Portobello Mushrooms - 500g Packs

The name portabella was popularized in the 1980s to sell a then unglamorous mushroom. Because it is harvested later, the portabella can easily reach 5 inches in diameter, is packed with concentrated flavor, and is a large dark mature cultivated mushroom noted for its meaty texture. The name Portobello is from unknown origins but has many fun stories. Literally the name means beautiful door. However some think it is named for a road in London England that sells fancy things. Some think it was named after a city in Panama , or there was a TV show once called Portobello. Portabella mushrooms are native to Italy and have been growing since ancient times. The first record of the mushroom was from French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort in 1707, and they were then heavily marketed in the 1980s at natural health food stores. The original mushroom Agaricus bisporus was brown like a crimini or portobello but in 1926 a Pennsylvania mushroom farmer discovered this strain that was bright white. Just as white bread was preferred back then so this mushroom became immediately popular. The brown mushrooms didn't sell so those nasty crimini and portabella were considered culls and tossed or taken home by the growers. Then in 1980 or so when the Whole Foods, Natural foods became popular then some ingenious marketer discovered that there was now a market for these darker of the species and maybe we could up the price! In a 100-gram serving, raw white mushrooms provide 93 kilojoules (22 kilocalories) of food energy and are an excellent source (> 19% of the Daily Value, DV) of the B vitamins, riboflavin, niacin, and pantothenic acid (table). Fresh mushrooms are also a good source (10–19% DV) of the dietary mineral phosphorus (table). While fresh A. bisporus only contains 0.2 micrograms (8 IU) of vitamin D as ergocalciferol (vitamin D2), the ergocalciferol content increases substantially after exposure to UV light.